Wearable robots,lighter and faster

The technology goes by many names. Besides wearable robot, they are also called electronic legs or powered exoskeletons. Gores version,called Indego,is among several competing products being used and tested in US hospitals that hold promise not only for people such as Gore with spinal injuries,but also those recovering from strokes or afflicted with multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.

Still at least a year away from being released in the market,the 12.25-kg Indego is the lightest of the powered exoskeletons. It snaps together from pieces that fit into a backpack. The goal is for the user to be able to carry it on a wheelchair,put it together,strap it on and walk independently.

Gore,42,of Whiteville,North Carolina,demonstrated the device last week at the American Spinal Injury Association meeting in Chicago,successfully negotiating a noisy,crowded hallway of medical professionals and people with spinal injuries in wheelchairs.

When he leans forward,the device takes a first step. When he tilts from side to side,it walks. When Gore wants to stop,he leans back and the robotic leg braces come to a halt. Gore uses forearm crutches for balance. A battery in the hip piece powers the motors in the robotic legs.

The devices wont replace wheelchairs,which are faster. None of the devices are speedy enough,for example,for a paralysed person to walk across a street before the light changes,says Arun Jayaraman of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago,who is testing a number of similar devices.

None of them have fall prevention technology, Jayaraman says. If you fall down,how do you get off a robot that is strapped into you? They need to be even lighter and have longer-lasting batteries,he adds.

Still,Jayaraman says,the devices might help prevent pressure sores from sitting too long in a wheelchair,improve heart health,develop muscle strength,lift depression and ultimately bring down medical costs by keeping healthier patients out of the hospital.